


heavily caffeinated but still drift compatible

by LogicalParafox



Series: loving you feels like the end of the world because its literally the apocalypse [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27412993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LogicalParafox/pseuds/LogicalParafox
Summary: Dave and Dirk run Feathery Assholes Coffee together, a coffee bar and night club in Hong Kong near the last Shatterdome. Though they trained to be pilots and proved very drift compatible, they were honorably discharged when the Jaeger program began to shut down.Now they live above their coffee bar and try not to dwell on what might have been.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Dirk Strider
Series: loving you feels like the end of the world because its literally the apocalypse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2003983
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	heavily caffeinated but still drift compatible

_**March 2024** _

Even after the apocalypse began, people still needed coffee.

If anything, Dave thought, they needed _more_ coffee.

* * *

Dave thought they probably had the best coffee shop in the world, and definitely the only one that operated solely at night with a rotating cast of DJs. Given the state of things, they did excellent business, especially with technicians coming off base from the last operational Shatterdome. The PPDC had cut funding to the bone and rumors were that even this last base was going to be mothballed.

Dave had some fellow feeling for the site as he and his half-cousin had been decommissioned several years before. They had been promising recruits when they signed up for the Jaeger Academy, motivated to fight against the Kaiju that had devastated so much of humanity. Even better, their lifelong bond had proved strong enough for drift compatibility and it seemed only a matter of time before they were assigned a Jaeger and graduated to the front lines.

Instead, Gipsy Danger fell to Knifehead and everything began to fall apart. The Academy closed, Jaeger construction programs shuttered, and pilots in training were retrained to keep the remaining few operational.

Dave and Dirk held out hope, relocating to Hong Kong and finding work at the base, but being so close to an impossible dream proved too much and they were discharged, sinking their stipends into property and a small business and now ran the hottest nightclub coffeeshop owned by former Jaeger pilot trainees in Hong Kong. Sure they were technically also the least hot nightclub coffeeshop owned by former Jaeger pilot trainees in Hong Kong but you had to hang your shades on something.

* * *

“Do you ever miss it?” Dave asked, staring at the ceiling.

“Hm….. miss… what?” Dirk asked back.

Even from the top bunk where Dirk couldn’t see his face, Dave kept his smile tucked inside. “Like you don’t know.”

“Do you?”

“Every day.”

“Me too.”

* * *

Technicians off the base favored Feathery Assholes Coffee, run as it was by former pilots. They stuck with the term ‘pilots’ despite Dave’s attempts to deter them and he’d given up at last, even though it stung each time. The sting, he told himself, was no worse than the constant knowledge of their failure, as the news showed the miles of Anti-Kaiju wall being constructed. Worse than a wall, that’s what he was.

Dirk had stuck behind the counter with him tonight as one of their regular DJs filled the room with thumping bass. The mugs had rattled when they first opened, but now the shelves were lined with rubber and the music reigned supreme. The interior reminded him of the base, probably another reason the rest of the PPDC crowd felt comfortable here, all exposed pipes and steel, though here it was purely aesthetic. Dave missed the purpose he had felt at the academy and working on the bases. Everyone had a place there, a purpose, an enemy to kill and a righteous cause to champion.

He kicked the pedal on the modified espresso maker, holding it down with his foot as he frothed milk, steam fogging up his shades. Dirk swapped frothing pitcher for a tray of cold brew shots as he and Dave passed each other easily in the tight space, the blacklights illuminating their shades-wearing crow logo on their matching aprons.

Even now, they hadn’t lost the drift.

* * *

“Strider!” a voice called, loud enough to carry over the beat. Dave and Dirk turned as one, spotting the mass of dark hair that heralded the descent of the grand high Harley from the Shatterdome. Dirk turned back to the customers and Dave headed for his friend, pouring a cold brew into a glass and adding more simple syrup to it than anyone should drink.

Jade, of course, licked her lips and drank it down like a frat pledge with something to prove and a desire to visit the ER. She leaned in, green eyes glowing in the black lights. Probably it was because of the blacklights. “Have you heard the news??”

“What news?”

“So you haven’t heard??”

“Harley if I’d heard I wouldn’t be asking you”

“Are you **SURE** I’m breaking the news? I want to be the first!!”

Dave contemplated rubbing his temples but just tipped his head to one side.

“We’ve got funding to restore one of the Mark 3s!!”

Dave stared at her, circus music playing in his head as the universe-shattering news brought all the other chittering thoughts to a record scratching halt.

Jade drooped slightly. “I’m not on the team, but there’s some talk of bringing back a retired Ranger and finding him a new partner.”

Dave gripped the edge of the counter to keep himself upright and jerked in surprise when a hand touched his shoulder. He glanced back at Dirk, who had one eyebrow raised. Dave tried to find words, but it felt as thought the Breach had opened up in his gut, sucking all of his insides into wherever the Kaiju came from.

“What did you tell him?” Dirk asked, shouldering past Dave to put himself between Dave and Jade.

“They’re… they’re reviving Gipsy Danger… bringing the surviving Becket back in and finding him a new partner…” Her enthusiasm had dropped and she looked worriedly from Dirk to Dave. “…I thought you’d be excited…”

Dirk nodded once. “Thanks for the heads up,” he said, taking her empty glass and holding it out to Dave behind him. When nothing happened he turned, gently lifting Dave’s hands and putting them around the cup, waiting until Dave shuddered to let go. “Get Harley a refill, on the house.” Dirk turned back to Jade, asking about other news.

* * *

Dave tried to pull himself together as he refilled the drink on autopilot. Where had his hands gone? They moved like normal but the world was impossibly far away, his fingertips moving through static. The PONS had been more solid, he thought hazily.

He was back in front of Jade, sliding the glass to her, amazed he hadn’t dropped it as the room crushed in on him.

Jade leaned forward and touched his hand. “….I’m sorry… I didn’t think….” She shook her head and downed her second sugar-and-cold brew Hummingbird, a Harley special certain to have you buzzing up near the ceiling within an hour. “I’m sorry,” she said again, sliding money across the counter to him.

He took it automatically as she slipped off the barstool, vanishing into the crowd.

* * *

A familiar hand gripped the back of his neck, warm, calloused. Dave sucked in a breath and wondered how long he had stared at the empty glass. “We’re going upstairs,” Dirk said into his ear.

“B-“

“No arguing. Move.”

Dave immediately pulled off his apron and hands came to take it from him, fingernails painted black. Roxy winked at him as she tied it around her waist and kissed his cheek. “Get some rest and yell at Jade later,” she said over the music.

Rose was already at work at the other end of the bar. When had they arrived?

Dirk gripped Dave by the shoulders and steered him into the back, up the stairs to their apartment.

Dirk reached past him to work the door handle, then had to put a shoulder to it and shove to stir the stack of shitty swords that had fallen against it. Dave stumbled inside as Dirk propelled him forward. He collapsed onto the couch, which groaned obligingly, then had to dig around behind himself to unearth an unsharpened shuriken, dropping it on the floor. It clattered on a stack of CDs, probably cracking at least one of the fragile plastic cases.

Dirk shut the door and the decibels from the coffee bar downstairs halved. Dave watched numbly as Dirk kicked the swords back into a more contained heap, steel-toed boots acquiring a few new scratches but none of the blades held enough of an edge to do more than scrape. He pried open the fridge and came over with a half-drunk bottle of apple juice without a lid and two cups, pouring and offering one to Dave first.

Dave managed to take it and Dirk poured one for himself, clinking his cup against Dave’s. “To shitty news delivered badly.”

Dave tried to laugh but it sounded more like a sob. He drank the juice before he could spill it and Dirk set both cups on the floor where they clinked against ones from last week.

“Talk to me.”

Dave scrubbed his hands on his jeans, shaking his head.

“Hey…” Dirk pulled off his shades, orange eyes concerned as he reached for Dave’s hand. “It’s ok to be upset about this.”

Dave opened his mouth, then shut it, swallowing hard. Dirk scrambled out of the way as Dave bolted for the bathroom, barely making it in time before he threw up what little was in his stomach. Dirk followed, sitting on the edge of the tub and rubbing Dave’s back gently as he dry heaved.

“Upset…” Dave muttered, reaching up to flush and sinking down to sit on the pile of unwashed towels. “Upset.”

Dirk tossed him a dampened washcloth that hit Dave in the face when he reacted too slow. With a sigh, Dave pulled off his shades and wiped his face before hauling himself upright to rinse his mouth.

“For a moment there…” Dave stared at his reflection. The bathroom lights were off and his skin looked pale, freckles standing out and eyes looking positively demonic in the neon glow of the sign for Feathery Assholes Coffee. “I thought we were getting the call.”

“You and I both know that’s ferociously unlikely.”

“Doesn’t stop me from wanting it…”

Dirk sighed and wrapped his arms around Dave, holding him close. Dave hesitated, then leaned back against Dirk.

“We may never get in a Jaeger,” Dirk said. “But you can always find me in the Drift.”

Dave laughed and kissed him.

“And we both know we’re way better than any stupid wall.”

“Fuck yeah.”


End file.
